Alt-Tab to show Host + Guest windows without Host key first

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Chris5gd
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Alt-Tab to show Host + Guest windows without Host key first

Post by Chris5gd »

Hi, I've been running Virtual Box (PUEL, Windows Host and Guests) for a couple of weeks now, and I'm really impressed. I've now uninstalled Microsoft Virtual PC and VMware, since VB does everything I need it to do, and quite a bit slicker.

However one little request... any chance of an option so that in Seamless mode, Alt-Tab allows cycling through (and then switching to) all the running apps on both Host and Guest?

I realise you can hit the Host key to get the Host's apps, but in seamless mode it would be just a little more seamless if I didn't have to.

Thanks, though, great product.
Sasquatch
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Re: Alt-Tab to show Host + Guest windows without Host key first

Post by Sasquatch »

You can open this suggestion in the Bugtracker (separate account needed), but make sure that such a request isn't made before. You're not the first one to ask for this kind of feature. It would be nicer if the implementation would be a host key driven event, like <host>+tab to send the Alt+Tab combination to the Host directly.
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Chris5gd
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Re: Alt-Tab to show Host + Guest windows without Host key first

Post by Chris5gd »

I think the usefulness of key combinations is very related to how easy and quick it is to type them.

For instance, Ctrl-LeftArrow and Ctrl-RightArrow are very commonly used for moving from word to word in a variety of applications, and I use the Right-Ctrl for this, which allows right-hand-only navigation. The default <Host> key in VB is Right-Ctrl, so I remapped it to Right-Alt as soon as I discovered that keyboard navigation was no longer working.

Similarly, the convenience of Alt-Tab to switch apps on Windows relies very much on being able to do it with one hand. Left-Alt-Tab is very quick indeed, whereas a <Host> key anywhere on the right of the space bar would require two hands to switch apps.

Therefore, I'd argue that <Host>-Tab wouldn't be a good way of implementing this suggestion. <Host> on its own, already changes the focus to the VM, after which Alt-Tab then cycles through the Host's open applications.

All I'm arguing, and I'd concede that it's a fairly minor point, is that in Seamless mode only, where by definition you want the two computers to appear as nearly as possible as one, it would be more seamless for Alt-Tab to act in the normal way.
Sasquatch
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Re: Alt-Tab to show Host + Guest windows without Host key first

Post by Sasquatch »

Chris, you bring valid points as to why it wouldn't work, but it's still something a lot of users are asking, as I've seen in the past few years. The requirement for two hands would be their problem IMO, they want the feature, it's there, stop complaining :P.
I have set the Host key to the right alt too, simply because my first laptop didn't have a right ctrl and I shared the config between it and my PC. With the right alt, I only need one hand, probably because I have long fingers. With the right ctrl, I need two, my hand just isn't big enough :P.
Read the Forum Posting Guide before opening a topic.
VirtualBox FAQ: Check this before asking questions.
Online User Manual: A must read if you want to know what we're talking about.
Howto: Install Linux Guest Additions
Howto: Use Shared Folders on Linux Guest
See the Tutorials and FAQ section at the top of the Forum for more guides.
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mathieudel
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Re: Alt-Tab to show Host + Guest windows without Host key first

Post by mathieudel »

Chris5gd wrote:in Seamless mode only, where by definition you want the two computers to appear as nearly as possible as one, it would be more seamless for Alt-Tab to act in the normal way.
I do agree with this point.
hex2bit
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Re: Alt-Tab to show Host + Guest windows without Host key first

Post by hex2bit »

Honestly, for getting a good idea of how seamless mode should work, take a look at VMware. Their seamless mode "unity" does just this. Alt+Tab cycles through both the guest and host applications. In addition, with VMware, the guest applications appear on the host OS's task bar. There is a little quirkiness to some of the task visibility, but it works well for the most part. I actually like the fact that VirtualBox keeps the guest OS's taskbar visibile. I can still access the full start menu and system tray of the guest in VirtualBox, which I cannot with VMware since they just have a simplified start menu shown for the guest OS.

So I'd like to see the host & guest task integration (Alt-tabbing), similar to VMware's, but keep the guest's task bar like VirtualBox does now. Just add an auto-hide/show behavior when the mouse is put over the host's task bar so you can access both OS's task bars at the same time. Also, when in seamless mode, put the running VM into the system tray, rather than leaving it in the task bar. Both VMware and VirtualBox does that and it's annoying because I accidentally switch to it sometimes when alt-tabbing.
mattsnowboard
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Re: Alt-Tab to show Host + Guest windows without Host key first

Post by mattsnowboard »

+1
I agree, this would be a really cool feature. I hadn't thought about using the host key then alt-tab before, at least it's a workaround.

Yes, ideally you should (in seamless mode) be able to use alt-tab (or some other combination) to switch between windows in the collection of both Host and Guest. And integration with the host taskbar would be nice but not essential. This isn't a trivial feature I'd imagine, as VB would need to keep track of everything (most recent window open gets switched to first so alt-tab works properly, etc.), but it would be really cool.
kurbads
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Joined: 7. Apr 2013, 19:38

Seamless trap

Post by kurbads »

VirtualBox is a seamless pit of host app switching keyboard shortcuts.

I keep XP guest on an OSX host in seamless mode most of the time.

OSX uses Apple+TAB to switch between apps.
Windows uses Alt+TAB to switch between apps.

Why these two key combinations cannot live together side by side in harmony like ebony and ivory in Paul McCartney's song?

I can successfully switch between XP apps with Alt+TAB and with Apple+TAB between OSX apps. But whenever I Apple+TAB into Windows XP, it does not let me Apple+TAB back where I came from.

Apple key in Windows is a Microsoft key. Microsoft+TAB in Windows does not correspond to any action e.g. Microsoft+Break which, by the way, does not work in VirtualBox. I don't know if it is possible to assign Microsoft+TAB as a keyboard shortcut to anything under XP at all. Why not patch it trough to OSX host when using XP as guest is beyond my comprehension.

Same applies to Mission Control. You use Ctrl + Left, Right, Up and Down arrows to navigate between spaces and Mission Control. This also stops working if you wonder into seamless XP. It basically disables features which make OSX cool. You press Ctrl + Left to exit Chrome fullscreen and when you press Ctrl + Right to go back it doesn't because it went into XP or should I say Oracle VirtualBox seamless mode.

OSX should not allow any program to block system shortcuts. I bet VirtualBox team has applied immense effort to enforce this evil. It must be stopped.

Why is it so hard to give a user option to let some key combinations get through to host when guest is active instead of being dully swallowed.

If the question is priority, let those key combinations work in both environments at the same time!

Like Adobe Photoshop zoom which is Apple+Space and when used turns cursor into spyglass in Photoshop and brings up OSX search field at the same time. Both of them work though. You can click and zoom a Photoshop image and you can type and search in host OS using the same shortcut seamlessly. The action whichever it is a click or typing chooses which keyboard shortcut target is used.

That's seamless and not swallowing.

The seamless mode is very cool feature. It basically gives ability to use the best from very different operating systems at the same time. There would not be so much passion about it if it wasn't so cool. Let's just add a tiny little bit of versatility.

P.S. After writing this epic poem, I disabled keyboard capture and now I am happy. Everything works as I expect. Thank you! It was good talking to a wise man (me) :D
matheus
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Joined: 10. Jun 2020, 04:50

Re: Alt-Tab to show Host + Guest windows without Host key first

Post by matheus »

Do we have a solution for this nowadays? It would be great to have alt tab working like suggested and maybe even showing multiple guest windows icons.
mpack
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Re: Alt-Tab to show Host + Guest windows without Host key first

Post by mpack »

I don't think a solution is possible. Seamless mode is provided as a convenient illusion (simply a transparent guest desktop), but the windows are NOT managed by the same UI manager, so windows can never be interleaved, and a tab captured on the host will not activate a window on the guest - or vice versa.

For this reason I prefer not to use seamless mode. Why do I need an illusion? Use full screen or windowed mode - both work like RDP and there is no visual confusion. Stop using crutches if there's nothing wrong with your legs.
matheus
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Re: Alt-Tab to show Host + Guest windows without Host key first

Post by matheus »

@mpack thanks for the answer. Maybe it doesnt support something like this but I believe in theory it would be possible to implement. For example, if a process runs on the guest machine sending what are the current window which exists on guest, and the host could have a process listening to this messages and updating the host windows. Of course it is not simple.

Also taking a look on source code I found:

Code: Select all

            case VMMDev_Seamless_Host_Window:
            /* One host window represents one guest window.  Not yet implemented. */
                LogRelFunc(("Unsupported \"host window\" mode requested (VBoxClient).\n"));
                return VERR_NOT_SUPPORTED;
And from the commented code I believe it is kind of related at least on the part which would show multiple windows on the host. Sadly I couldnt find much more information.
scottgus1
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Re: Alt-Tab to show Host + Guest windows without Host key first

Post by scottgus1 »

It is not impossible. Sufficient code needs to be running to plug into or replace Alt-Tab to cycle through the guest's windows too. Host and guest(s) are just multiple computers that can be networked or API'd together.

The software necessary for this function has not been written yet. Given that it does not exist yet, it is safe to surmise that Oracle's paying customers have not wanted it yet, and the devs have said that paying customers' needs & wants drive development. (We users of free Virtualbox do not qualify as Oracle customers.)

Users of free Virtualbox can contribute code, and user-contributed code has been included.
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